Method of metal-bending into looped formation



K. M. BOBLETT.

METHOD OF METAL BENDING INTO LOOPED FORMATION.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 1. 1914.

1,8 1 1,637 Patented July 29, 1919.

U T TE KINDERMAN M. BOBLETT, 0F TOLEDO, OHIO.

METHOD OF METAL-BENDING INTO LOQPED FORMATIOI' Specification of LettersPatent. Patented July 29, 1919,

Application filed October 1, 1914. Serial No. 864,503.

To (I71 whom it may concern.

Be it known that-I, Kixmnnian M. Bon- LE'IT, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Toledo, iii the county of Lucas and State of Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Metal-Bending into Looped FOl'llltltlOll, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to a method of constructing a plaited or cellularbody from a continuous strip of material by bending the material uponitself to form a succession of oppositely disposed loops or bights.

The method or process, forming the subject matter hereof, whileparticularly adapted for producing parts or units of automobile or otherradiators by forming a flat sheet of material into the meandrous loopedor plaited formation as described, may also be employed in operationupon wire for forming looped bars, bands or stays for various purposesbut which are particn larly adapted for use as corset stays or foranalogous purposes.

The herein described method or process is bestperforined by theapparatus described and claimed in my co-pending application formetal'bender, Serial No. 737,247, filed Dec. 17, 1912.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple and economical methodor process by which the material may be formed into the desired shapeuniformly throughout the product and which will be rapid, accurate, andeasy of operation.

IVith the above primary and other incidentall objects in view, as willmore fully appear in the specification, the invention con sists of thesteps, manipulations, and mode of operation, or their equivalents, ashereinafter described and set forth in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a sectionof finished product comprising an automobile radiator produced bythemethod or process forming the subject matter hereof. Figs. 2 and 3 aredetail perspective views of modifications of the product produced by theprocess herein claimed and requiring only modifications of the shapes ofthe tools such as the die, the punch and the mandrel. Fig. l is a detailviewof a wire product suitable for use as a corset stay or similarpurpose which may be produced by herein described process. Fig. 5 IS adetail view illustrating four succcssive steps, indicated by I, II, III,and IV, ot' the process or method by which the Fig. 7 is a detailed endview of the oscillatlllg'dllillldlfil indicating its degree of movementand path of operation. Fig. 8 is a detail plan view illustrating themovement of the mandrel in relation with the die.

Like parts are indicated by similar characters of reference throughoutthe several views.

The operation of the process forming the subject matter hereof producesfrom either a flat sheet of material or from a wire a cellular orplaited body comprising a succession of oppositely disposed flat sidedloops or biglits. \Vhile in the construction shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3the opposite sides of the finished product. are recessed and n Fig. 1additional grooves are provided in each of the loops or bights. it is tobe understood that these details are not essentials of the productsresulting from the process but in this instance are peculiar to thepurpose t'or which the product was intended .and may be omitted orvaried at will by modifications in the shape of the tools withoutchanging the steps or operations of the process.

Likewise in Fig. l' the outer side of the loops or bights have beenshown as arcuate whereas such sides may be made square or indented inaccordance with the shape of the producing. parts without varying thesteps or operation of the method. The formation shown in Figs. 1 to l,inclusive, are merely illustrative of the applications of the processfor particular purposes and are not iiitendcd as limiting the scope ofthe application.

The )rocess forming the subject matter hereof is best, though notnecessarily, carried out with the aid. of an ordinary punch or stamppress with which is associated special mechanism for reciprocating andoscillating the hereinafter described mandrel at proper times inrelation with the sequence of ope 'ation. However. the process is notdependent uponsuch special apparatus but may be successfully performedby hand operations with the aid of such tools and register one with theother.

appliances as are usually employed by. persons skilled in metal bendingoperations.

Referring first to the product, the cellular body illustrated in Fig. 1comprises a suc cession of oppositely disposed flat sided loops orbights. 1 1 of rectangular cross section which are formed in acomparatively wide strip of sheet metal. The opposite or exterior sidesof the loops or. bights are indented transversely, as'indicated at 2,such indentations of successive loops or bights Each of the loops orbights is further indented longitu- I dinally to form a groove ordepression 3.

. When a collection of units, such as is shown in Fig. 1, are assembledside by side, the indentations 2 of the succeeding units registering onewith the other, form water. channels or conduits ofwhich the grooves 3form lateral ramifications.

The constructions shown in Figs. 2 and 3 are quite similar to that shownin Fig. 1

'exceptthat in Fig. 2 the rectangular loops lar loops or bights as shownin Figs. 1 or 2 or into triangular formation as shown in Fig. 3.

Referring particularly to Fig. 5, 4 is a.

re'ciprocatory punch or forming head which cooperates with a die 5comprising a bed over which the material and finished work passes. Asplit'mandrel 6 capable of both reciprocatory and oscillatory movement coope'rates with the punch and die and in one osition forms one side ofthe die or matrix 1n which the material is initially formed. By theoperation of the punch 4 the material operated upon isinitially formedinto a U shaped bend or bight one side or arm of which is of greaterextent than the other side. The formation of this rectangular bight orbend is clearly shown in Fig.5, position I. The initial bend or bight,havmg been formed as shown in positions I and II of Fig. 5, the split orbifurcated mandrel 6 is withdrawn longitudinally from the work androtated downward as.

corner of t 1e mandrel indicated at a: in Fig.

7. The oscillatory movement of the man;

vdrel consists of a rocking movement upon the corner 00 from a recumbentposition, as

shown in Fig. 7 when the mandrel rests upon its side, to an uprightposition wherein the mandrel will rest upon its edge and vice versa.These' positions andthe directlon of movement are clearly indicated bydotted and solid lines and by means of darts in said figures. During thetime that the mandrel 6 is withdrawn from engagement with the work,thefinished product together with the supply of material and the Ushaped bight ormed therein, are advanced a distance of one loo or spaceThe mandrel 6 is then move inward to a position shown by dotted lines atthe right in Fig. -8 wherein the slot or bifurcatlon of the mandrel willengage the short arm or side of the U shaped bight before mentionedf Therelation of the mandrel with the work 15 then such thatthe base of the Ushaped bight extends beneath one finger of the mandrel While the side orarm of the bight ex- 'U shaped bight to be bent at right angles at amedial ,pointthereby bringing the extremity of the short arm or side ofthe bight into contact with the long arm or side of the bight at amedial point and perpendicular thereto. I ment is best illustrated inFig. 6. Referring to Fig. 6, the rectangular U shaped bight beforereferred to, produced by the initial operation or step, comprises abight a b c.d. The split or bifurcated mandrel is' engaged: with theworkin such relation that the portion a?) extends through the slot betweenthe fingers ofthe mandrel. Upon This bending move the rotation of themandrel about its corner axisw the base portion bc of the U shaped loopis bent at its medial point 0' to form a right angle thereby causing theextremity a of the short side or arm to move to the position aand at thesame time the-point e on the supply portion of the strip of materialmoves as indicated by darts to the point e. The material operated uponthen assumes the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 6 whereinthe supply portion overlies the upper side of the mandrel to the point ffrom which it extends diagonally downward to the bed or die 5. This isthe step or position shown at IV, Fig.5.

In said osition the mandrel is shown in its uprig t or oscillatedposition. The parts are then in position for the next forming operationof the punch or stamp l by WlllCll a succeeding rectangularU shapedbight is formed. The .descent of the punch or stamp 1 intermediate theupturned mandrel (i and the offset of the die or bed 5 carries the pointupon the supply portion of the material downward to form the lowercorner at g of the U shaped bight thereby causing the portion -f toassume a perpendicular position against the side of the upturned mandrelto form the long or upright arm of the U shaped bight. The short arm ofthe bight is then turned against the long arm in the manner beforedescribed by the bending of the base portion of the bight and asucceeding U shaped bight'is formed. This sequence of operation iscontinued indefinitely or until a cellular or looped body of the desiredextent is produced.

In order to form the indentation 2 and longitudinal groove 3 disclosedin Fig. 1, the punch or stamp l is provided with beads or ribs 7projecting from a forming face or plate 8 which corresponds with theindentation 2. The bed or die is provided with a corresponding formingface 9 provided with beads or ribs 10. The mandrel fingers are likewiseprovided with corresponding indentations or shoulders 11 andlongitudinal grooves 12.

To facilitate the disengagement of the mandrels (i from an indentedconstruction such as shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the mandrel is formed intotwo sections or halves and is withdrawn in opposite directions from thework. Such sections or halves are shown in Fig. 8 in which figure therotary movement of the mandrel about its eccentric axis is indicated bydotted lines at the left and the reciproeatory movement of the mandrelis indicated by dotted lines at the right. If the desired constructionis straight throughout or tapered in one direction only or provided withonly one set of shoulders or offsets, a single mandrel may be employedin lieu of the double mandrel shown in Fig. 8. In operating upon wire toproduce a flexible band or stay, as shown in Fig. 4, a plurality ofstrands of wire may be operated upon simultaneously, such strands beingplaced side by side and being simultaneously I engaged in the slot orbifurcation of the mandrel. In performing the process with the aid ofthe punch, the die, and the man drel, before described. the sequence ofoperation is as follows: the punch descends to form the U shaped bightintermediate the upturned mandrel and offset of the die or bed; thepunch ascends and at the same time the mandrel is withdrawn fromengagement with the work; the mandrel is oscillated downward about aneccentric axis to a re cumbent position and at the same time the work isadvanced to bring the short side of the U shaped bight into alinementwith the slot or bifurcation of the mandrel; the mandrel isreci-procated inward with the fingers projecting on opposite sides ofthe short side of the bight which is thereby caused to extend throughthe slot or bifurcation; the mandrel is then oscillated about itseccentric axis to an upright position wrapping the material in oppositedirections about the fingers of the mandrel, whereupon the punch orstamp again descends to complete the wrapping of the material about themandrel and to form the succeeding U shaped bight. This completes onesequence'of operations which may be continued indefinitely. At thedescent of the punch or stamp to form the succeeding bights pressure isapplied to the material wrapped about the mandrel to cause it to conformclosely to the contour of the mandrel thereby setting the material inits ultimate shape. Thus the material is wrapped in opposite directionsabout a bifurcated mandrel and pressure is applied to set the materialinto conformity therewith.

From the above description it will be apparent that there is thusprovided a device of the character described, possessing the particularfeatures of advantage before enumerated'as desirable but which obviouslyis susceptible of modification in its form, proportion, detailconstruction or arrangement of parts without departing from theprinciple involved or sacrificing any of its advantages.

While in order to comply with the statute the invention has beendescribed in language more or less specific as to certain structuralfeatures, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited toanyspecific details, but that the means and construction herein describedcomprise but one mode of putting the invention into effect and theinvention is therefore claimed broadly in any of its possi'ble forms ormodifications within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. The method of producing a body of the characterdescribed consistingin forming in the material operated upon a substantially U shaped bightthe arms of which are of unequal length and subsequently bending thetransverse portion of the bight to bring the end of the short arm intoproximity with the long arm, and continuing the alternate forming andbending operations.

2. The method of producing a body of the character described consistingin forming an offset in the material operated upon adj aeent to thefinished portion of the product and subsequently bending the materialintermediate the offset and the finished portion to &

' cause the offset portion to approach the finished portion.

3. The method of producing a body of the character described consistingin forming an offset in the material operated upon, bending the ofi'setportion of the-material adjacent to the ofl'set at right'angles,carrying a corresponding length of .material to the point of the lastmentioned bend and forming in the supply material a succeeding 10 I

